According to reports, Wade Phillips will return as the Dallas Cowboys' head coach for the 2010 season. This was no big surprise, given Jerry Jones' not-so-subtle hints throughout the past few weeks; also fairly predictable is that fan reaction has been mixed. Some see Phillips as an effective coach, evidenced by two NFC East championships in three seasons. Others believe his nature is too easy-going to ever be a true winner (read: Super Bowl winner).
Player reaction, on the other hand, has been rather uniform; players are content with the decision, which seems fairly unsurprising, given Phillips' reputation as a sort of type-A players' coach.
"He did a great job," said Tony Romo. "He kept the team together during a lot of tough times this year. He's done a fantastic job as coach of the Cowboys."
The idea that Phillips overcame daunting obstacles in 2009 would be a theme in the players' remarks.
"You could just see that we were a different football team from the beginning of the season to the end," added safety Gerald Sensabaugh."We were able to overcome the hard times and it shows a lot about a team and that was a directive of how Wade is as a person: put the past behind you and keep going forward. That's how we played this year. We were able to bounce back from tough losses and won the division, that's pretty good."
Tight end Martellus Bennett cited the team's late surge, before falling to the Vikings on Sunday, as evidence of Phillips' leadership.
"I like coach Wade. He's been doing a great job with us all year. There's a lot of things they said we couldn't do with him as our head coach," said Bennett. "They said we couldn't win in December. We did that. They said we couldn't beat the Eagles three times. We did that. They said we couldn't win a playoff game. We did that. He's been doing a great job with us."
